An Argghh Eff you spokesperson said ' player welfare is really important to us... but the port and gin kitty is vital, and we feel that it could be somewhat depleted come the back end of November if Ingurlund don't win the home games during the latter part of the Autumn internationals. Therefore we cut the ban down just in case...'

Video evidence is far from clear though. Sinckler says he would never knowingly gouge anyone deliberately so you have to take his word for that. I t could be that the scrum cap did the eye damage and this is possibly an effort to jump on this tactic before it gets out of hand. It could be that pulling scrum caps off is what passes for humour in west London but I doubt if anyone else finds it funny.

I think the footage that's available is clear enough to see his hands went back to the face well after the cap was removed and he made two very deliberate scratching motions including bending the fingers. The first attempt is slightly obscured by a boot but the second go certainly finds the eye.

One of the most disappointing aspects of this is seeing the majority of Quins fans trying to downplay the incident. They're tripping over themselves to criticise him for being stupid for removing the scrum cap, or allowing his hands to accidentally drift over the face - because this sounds much better than intentionally scratching at someone's eye.

Then we have the ban being reduced by ~40% partly because of him accepting guilt and showing remorse...whilst simultaneously stating publicly that it was a complete accident.

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment.
We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals.
We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards.
If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing
abuse@sportnetwork.net